The Dignity Act is the center of a new bipartisan effort to achieve immigration reform that provides a path to Citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrants.

ABIC Action held a press conference on Wednesday with business executives from key sectors of the economy to discuss the urgency of immigration reform like the one proposed in the Dignity Law.

The press conference featured testimonies of how business owners in the construction, healthcare, agriculture, and service sectors such as restaurants are being affected by the lack of solutions to maintain an immigrant workforce with pathways to legal status in the country.

ABICaction is a group that brings together business leaders and CEOs who advocate for common-sense immigration solutions. to help strengthen the U.S. economy and American families.

Interviewees expressed in their testimonies the importance for entrepreneurs and business owners to find solutions to the situation of immigrants, specifically facilitating the legalization of undocumented workers who meet certain requirements, such as those proposed in the Dignity Law.

Michelle Santillanes

Michelle Santillanes, owner of El Tamarindo restaurant in Denver, shared a moving testimony during a summit of business leaders on the immigration reform proposed by the Dignity Law.

Janille Baker

Janille Baker, Controller, Baker Ranches, Inc., Baker, Nevada, is actively involved in the ranch's operations, especially in the accounting and financial aspects. Baker Ranches is known for using modern ranching techniques alongside traditional methods, producing over 1,000,000 pounds of beef and thousands of tons of hay annually. It employs about 40 farmworkers, half of whom are foreign-born.

The ranch uses guest worker programs, primarily employing Mexican immigrants, to help with the harvest during peak demand periods.

The Bakers' business couldn't survive without the H-2A farm guest worker program, which attracts Mexican immigrants for about nine months a year.

"Finding experienced, dedicated cowboys is also a constant struggle. Long, hot days in the summer, bitter cold in the winter. You have to love what you do, and most people don't," Baker explained.

"As someone who believes in the future of American agriculture, I want our food supply to come from American farms as much as possible. But for that to happen, we must support those who make agriculture possible, including our immigrant workforce."

"A A nation that cannot feed itself is not safe. I have been encouraged by President Trump's recent comments recognizing the critical role of immigrants in agriculture and hospitality.”

“I am heartened by Representative Salazar's reintroduction of the Dignity Act. It is a significant bipartisan step in addressing this crisis.”

Rachel Blumberg

“We are a senior living community that is home to over 500 older adults. We offer a full range of services, from independent living to assisted living, memory care, short-term rehabilitation, and long-term skilled nursing care,” Blumberg said.

“Personally, I welcome the reintroduction of the Dignity Act by Representatives Salazar and Escobar. This bill would be a lifeline for many workers in our industry who are under Temporary Protected Status,” he said. Blumberg said 10 of his workers were laid off by the federal government due to the termination of the CHNV parole program, which provided immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela with authorization to live and work in the U.S. for two years. And in September, he will lose another 28 workers when TPS ends. Blumberg explained that the affected employees were primarily from Cuba and Haiti and had been legally hired under the CHNV program. He said it was difficult to give them the news of their layoffs. “It was heartbreaking, full of tears,” he said. hugs and a lot of disbelief”,said Blumberg.

“Don’t punish our essential workers for their contributions and hard work. Don’t exclude them for the communities they helped build,” Rachel Blumberg asked after closing her remarks.

Victor Galvan

That is why he believes that immigration should be regulated and that it should allow a person who meets certain requirements to come to the United States.

“We really need labor, especially in the construction industry, where I work, in the roofing sector, construction, asphalt, and where it is hot, where there are areas where these people are willing to take risks for the opportunity to show the country that they want to be here, that they want to do things right, even if the temperatures on the roof are 140 degrees on the ground, it is almost 200 degrees in the asphalt,” He explained, praising the will of these workers.

And the importance for entrepreneurs and business owners to find solutions to the situation of immigrants, specifically facilitating the path to legalize undocumented workers who meet certain requirements, such as those proposed in the immigration reform presented in the House of Representatives, the Dignity Law.